Detoxing a Xeno
Back to 2010 Logs Depth Swivel Goa Depth walked down to Cubicron from Polyhex, as he walked he began to feel off. Something was wrong. The further he walked, the more off he became. Just on the outskirts of town it really hit him, his body reacting to the radiation and spark energy he absorbed. It took all his effort to get to a safe location before he completely blacked out. Hard to say how long he'd been flat on his back, just out in the open. Slowly though he comes too to find he's very ill. "Uhh.. **** me...." he groans. "Okay, doncha worry 'bout a thing, lil' Swiv gonna help ya out... for a fee 'course, but we'll settle 'at when I'm done. Ta..." drifted Swivel's voice from one of the many tents. Then shortly after the small femme ducked out of the flap of one such tents, brushing a blackish powder off from her arms and shoulders, and then her thighs. Satisfied, she stands up straight and had began walking towards the east, when a sound of groaning caught her audio receptors. She pauses a moment, glancing around, until finally she sees the fallen form of Depth. Without hesitation she darts over. "Depth? Depth? You okay?" Depth's optics take a few moments to focus, even then there looks to be two of Swivel looking down at him. "Am I dead yet?' he groans softly. His form is partially solid, partially liquid. There's a faint glow coming off of him as well. Even his optics seem to glow off color. "Hey.. Bubbles.." he murmurs, ".. not.. okay." Swivel chomps down on her lower lip with her dental plate for a moment, a frazzled look of concern and confusion plain on her features. An expression which Depth likely would see double of. "What is happening to your body? What can I do?" Depth's optics flicker, go unfocused, another groan of pain escaping him. His body seems to melt just a hint more. "Need... river.. water.." he gasps out, "Might.. help.." Swivel wrings her wrists as she stares down as the mech gets a little bit more... slooshy. "River water? Which river? Mercury? Caustic?" She pauses a moment, in her panic not thinking. His liquid form reminded her a LOT of the mercury rapids. "Mercury right? How long can you hold on?" Depth nods to the question to mercury, "Yesss... mercury good.. caustic bad.." optics dim, he begins to writhe slowly, body losing a bit more cohesion. "Go.. can hold on.. long time.." he gasps, words becoming a bit of an effort. "Alright. I'll go get you some mercury from the river. Just hold tight until I return. I will be back soon, Depth." Swivel quickly sprints off towards the road, transforms, and speeds off towards the East, planning the quickest route in her mind as she does so. Depth let's his body go fully fluid for awhile, hoping it may help rather than harm the situation he's in. He keeps alert though, waiting to hear Swivel return. Time passes. There is the daunting fact that the mercury river was on the surface, whilst Depth was lying, waiting, two levels beneath. However, the small car is fast despite being a wheeled vehicle. Where possible, she uses inclines and gravity to give her a boost to her speed, reaching reckless velocities. And it is at such a reckless speed at which she returns to the Buffer Zone of Cubicron. Although taxed, her engines are still not terribly loud. However, the horrible screeching as she sets her brakes to work at such speeds announce her return as sparks fly from where metal studs in her tires clash against the road. When the small car comes to a full stop, smoke rising all about her, Swivel unfolds to her robot form, her arms wrapped around an old paint can. She carefully darts over to where she left Depth. "Depth! Depth! I got some!" she calls out, not seeing him right away as he'd reverted to only liquid. Some of the mercury in the pail sloshes over the side, perfect spherical droplets falling to the ground before flattening on impact and scattering into smaller drops. Depth hears the squeal of tires and slowly reforms as best he is able, of course he is even more incohesive than he was when you left. "Good." he slurs out, sounding a bit like his vocals are gurgling his own liquid metal to even speak. It would be humorous if this was so serious. "Just.. pour.. on.." he manages to gurgle out. Another slow writhing of the body possesses him, a painful groan emanating from the mech. Swivel sets her expression to one of determination and walks over his half-formed body and tips the can upside down, pouring the silvery liquid over Depth. Depth's body absorbs the river water like a dry sponge. Not a drop of it goes to waste. Even the bits that you splattered upon breaking seem to get drawn into his partially formed yet liquidly misshaped body. He still feels ill though, the writhing continues.. slowly flexing his limbs, body undulating.. its sadly pathetic. "Thank.. you.." he gurgles. He's hoping that the water will do something.. anything... Swivel glances inside the can curiously, not seeing one small bit of residue left. But then, Mercury seldom left much in the ways of residue. It stuck to itself. A strange metal, that. She then glances down at Depth. "You.... you don't look much better," she remarks. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other uneasily, glancing around, then back down at Depth. "Do you need more? Or is there something else I can help you with?" Depth is finding it hard to think too. But replies, "Maybe.. bit.. more." he gurgles in answer, another write and undulation assaulting his body. Detoxification.. not a fun process.. not in the least. "Uhhhhh... hurry..." he gasps, then coughs up some of his own liquid fluid which reabsorbs back into his partially formed body. Swivel raises her optics ridges. If it weren't for her forehead a) being covered by a star shaped crest, and B) being made of metal, she'd be starting to get worry lines. However, as it is, she just looks concerned. She smiles a little. "Okay, I'll get you as much of it as you need, Depth," she coos. She then turns to go make ANOTHER trip to the river. Depth pools back into a puddle after you leave. It's just easier on him overall. Maintaining his body while he's obviously so sick is proving to be a big strain. The sluggish thought of if this next dose doesn't work.. he'll know what he'll have to do next... for now though he waits as patiently as anyone that is sick can Returns, a repeat performance of her previous trip to the river and back, sometime later. She takes slightly longer this time, and when transforms back into her robot form, she is dragging a large metal drum. One imagines the reason it took her longer was because she had to procure it first. It seems a bit heavier than she is quite accustomed to lugging around. Once she gets close enough to Depth, she just pushes it over. Depth tries to reform, but figures you got the idea that the big puddle of liquid silver is him. The container of water splooshed into the puddle, the size of said puddle remains oddly unchanged as the water is absorbed and made use of by the sick xeno. "Take.. me.. to.. river... to .. the water..." is gurgled.. the puddle forming upwards then slooshing into the drum. (we can rp that too) Swivel just stares as the drum is filled with Depth. She gawks for a moment or two, letting a sigh escape her. "I'm... I'm not that strong! I..." she glances at the drum. Dragging it just from the road to where Depth was tiring. Dragging him back to a patch of road she could drive on and hauling him to the river was not going to be easy. "I'll... I'll try..." she says. She walks to the drum, turning around so her back faces it, then squats by it. She reaches back, her hands firmly placed on it, and tips it so it leans against her back. Then she struggles to get her fingers beneath the bottom. With a grunt, she lifts it up, bending forward to distribute most of the weight along her back, the tilt of her tires cradling the drum. "Let's.... get you... to that... ng.... river." Depth hmms and gurgles from the drum.. "Bucket?" is asked. Swivel takes a few heavy, slow steps towards where the road begins. "Sh. Don't speak unless it's urgent. I doubt you'd fit in the bucket anyway. Yer a big fella," Swivel says. She huffs and then transforms. The drum is almost completely horizontal now, and unless Depth keeps himself from spilling out, he'd fall out down the front of her. The drum just barely fits on top of her small vehicular form without pressing against the tops of the tires that stick out on either side. Then there is a click, a hiss, then a hum as energy straps shoot up around the top and fall upon the drum, only to cinch themselves tight, holding it securely. "Gonna have to drive more carefully, can't flip with cargo," she says. With that, she sets off towards the mercury river. Depth makes a soft gurgling assent to being quiet, content to just be a puddle in the drum. Once the movement begins he monitors his sloosh level as best as he is able, keeping himself from getting spilled out of the drum as you drive the drum with him in it to the river. He takes effort, but he manages to do it. Though there are a few close calls. Swivel finally rolls to a stop by the mercury river, where it is more calm. "We’re here," she announces. Then she inches as close to the bank as she dares in her vehicular form. "Think you can make it the rest of the way into there?" she asks in her chirpy voice. Depth heaves his liquid puddle form over the edge of the drum, slooshing down it onto your hood. From there he just flows onto the ground and into the river. Totally disappearing in the water. Swivel retracts the energy binding she'd used to keep the drum steady and transforms, letting the drum roll away from her in the process. She chases after the drum, stopping it with her foot before, it two, disappears into the river. She then squints her optics into the flowing silver liquid. "Depth?" There's a stir in the water, a bubbling going on.. but no actual sign of the mech himself. Swivel fidgets as she stands, one foot still pinning the drum, and looks into the turbulence. "Depth?" she calls again, looking uncertain. Another stir, a more active bubbling. It's progressing, slowly becoming more agitated. His voice seems to come from everywhere in the river. "mmmmm." Swivel leans over, picking up the drum and slowly backs up. She sets the drum upside down and then uses it as a place to sit. She continues to watch the river. "Gee.... I hope I didn't create a monster." Depth's head peeks out of the river water nearby, formed normally. "That'd be funny." he remarks, still sounding a bit off. "But not worth effort right now." the head turns to eye a electrogator that is swimming toward it. So the head just melts back into the river. Swivel raises her optic ridges, seeing his head looking normal at least. She crosses one ankle over the other and slouches forward, waiting, watching, wondering. "Well... just so long as we don't have a berserker giant Depth crunching up the landscape." Her optics shift towards the oncoming electrogator, but she is scarcely bothered by its presence. Depth's laugh echoes from the river, the electrogator suddenly is jerked under the water. There's a bubble of activity, then the gator is flung up out of water and off into the distance. The head reforms again, "Landscape munching is not on my menu." he assures her. Swivel tilts her head to the side. "Well... will you be alright, now, Mr. Slooshy? I was in the middle of a job when I stopped to help you..." Depth mmms softy, "YEah.. yeah I think so.. go and finish your job. I'll just stay here and wait for the sick feeling to finally leave me." Swivel slips off of the drum and waves at the river. "Well, when I am done I might come back by here to see if you're still here and need anything else." Swivel says. "I do hope you start feeling better, though. Buh-bye!" ---- Later that same solar cycle… Depth is partially submerged in the Mercury River, what is not in the river itself is his head, shoulders, and part of his top most chest. He's just staring up at the sky. He's been here awhile now since Swivel left. "Uhh.." he groans softly. He spits up a bit of liquid mercury off to the side. Shall add here the mech is not in his armor at all. Even his head has no armor upon it. Silver body glinting like the river he's in. A face that is old and young all at once. Optics dimming and brightening as he focuses on anything that flies by. Goa isn't exactly flying by. Barely even rolling, actually. He wheels his way along the riverbank, putting along, like he's looking for something. That spot he had before was a nice place to think, just maybe too noisy ... he's on the hunt for another. The river's a convenient place, far enough out that no one will guess he's not on patrol, but isolated enough he doesn't have to keep an eye on his back too much. Either way, though, his nose is on the ground, not paying much attention. Until he hears something that sounds like an empty. Not too far off, the mech transforms, one hand on his grenade launcher in his holster, his back to the river ... eyeing the nearby buildings warily. Depth turns his head toward the sound of an engine, taking some time to focus his optics. Still seeing double.. he spots the grounder. "Hey.. kid." he offers, voice sounding off. A little smile creeping onto his lips, yeah lips.. he has em. "Long time.. now see.." then another low groan and he spits up another bit of liquid metal. "Uhhh..." "Depth?" Goa glances over his shoulder, not immediately willing to turn his attention away from the buildings. But ... no, that was the sound he heard. He stands down. "You... alright?" The mech approaches, skidding down the riverbank to crouch by the rocks-of-sorts. One more look over his shoulder sates his wariness. Depth replies, "Who the slag else would call you kid?" he asks softly, peering at the double you he's seeing. "Don't mind the look and all.. still me.. just me without armor." he remarks casually. "No I'm not all right." Goa leans slightly closer. The mechanical, jerkier-than-usual movements of his mismatched optics are clear evidence he's scanning the xeno. "Nothing new to me, Depthy." He rocks backward on his heels, raising one antenna. "And I dunno. Got some old friends that might've taken up the mountain-mech livin' without me knowin'." Goa stops talking and tilts his helmet to one side. Not sure what to make of the tone. "What kind of not alright?" Both antennae move forward and droop to the sides. "... is this my fault?" Depth hms softly and smiles a bit, "Not surprising you anymore? Losing my touch." he states, moving his arms to get his elbows beside himself so he can push himself up into a seated position, exposing the torso to the waist. Silvery muscular torso at that. "Sick." he states simply, "Eh, don't blame yourself. Was looking after your own." he pauses a moment, still trying to focus with little success. He spits up another bit of liquid metal that splashes into the river. "Uhh.. dunno why for sure either. Never been sick." "Maybe it was something you ate." Goa sits back on his aft, allowing one tire to roll forward into the 'water'. He thumbs his beard. No one around here exactly provided medical services to aliens. That was bad. And he couldn't see the radiation, but his scanners -- not to mention a gut feeling, more of a hum in his chest -- were telling him it was there. "What've you tried already?" Depth chuckles a little to that, "More like what I absorbed from the sweetness in your repair bay. Took out the radiation and some of the energy from her spark too, couldn't be avoided." he states, then gestures to the river, "This is what I'm trying. It's close to the metal composition of my own body so I'm using it to detox." "Didn't you eat a bunch of that slag before?" Goa sets his hands on the ground. "I betcher allergic to Shredder. She's fine, by the way. Least if no one tries to kill her this cycle." Goa lays his antennae back, unsure whether to smile or frown. It's Depth -- there's no way he's going to find out how /really/ serious the situation is. So he assumes less rather than more. "Can't you transfer it out to something?" Goa mimics the gesture toward the river. "'Cause to me, it looks like you're just blarfing half your mass." Depth mms softly to the question, "Its one thing to take the crystal into my body and absorb it slowly. It's quite another to absorb radiation plus spark energy." he explains, "It may be the combination of those two things that my body isn't liking. May just be the energy from her spark. Hard to tell. Either way, its why I'm in here blarging up as you so quaintly put it." he smiles and nods, "Glad to hear she pulled out of it. Was a bit worried taking so much of her spark energy would kill her. But it was better than the alternative." he turns his head to spit up more liquid metal. "Uhh.." Goa raises an optic ridge. "Didn't answer my question." His tire rolls back out of the shallow mercury. "You need a bit? I can keep on walkin'. But for someone who's not been sick with something, you aren't really bothered by it." Depth nods. "Sorry, was getting to the answer. That's what I'm doing now, using the river water to help strain out the radiation. But this water isn't exactly purified." then shaking his head, "Rather you wouldn't leave.. unless you gotta. As for not being bothered, I am.. for awhile there thought I was gonna die and see old Stalker." There it was. He had to either get serious or shrug it off eventually. Goa dims his optics, and his mouth goes flat, as he stews over something. "Found what I was looking for anyway." He brightens back up, rolling himself forward until he's waist-deep in the river as well. "Glad Firestorm didn't say yes now, huh? You know we can tolerate that stuff. That's what I was askin'." He lifts one leg to look at the way the silver plays on the gold manifolds at his heels. Need to get those refinished... vain-in-denial as ever. "Do I hear a war story comin' on?" Depth hms softly, "Oh, what you were looking for cuz I don't think it was me this time." he notes sagely, then a little frown. "Goa, my offer still stands with her. Those crystals are /IN/ her spark, and we both know she's possibly on borrowed time as it is. The fact that **** hasn't killed her yet is a testimony to her sheer will to live." his tone serious, then he spits up another bit of metal. "Uhh. Man that's just nasty water. Surprised the critters in here don't get sick off it." he remarks, then a chuckle, "Why you asking? Need one?" Goa's ankle falls back to the ground with a splash. "They pro'lly do." His back plate shifts and obscures him to some degree. But he turns his nose around to look at the xeno. "Do I need one? Only good thing about war, ain't it?" he chuckles. "I was ... looking. Just in general." He looks back away. No... No, Depth had something with Firestorm, of course he'd do stupid slag for it. "Course it still stands. ... Just don't get yourself killed." Depth watches you closely, optics finally focusing you. He blinks,